Goodman's 'Shining City' cast luminous
Conor McPherson sure can spin a satisfying yarn. Moreover the Irish playwright has a special talent for ghost stories as evidenced by his oblique yet satisfying "Shining City," which opened this week at Goodman Theatre.
Robert Falls, who directed the 2006 Broadway premiere, reprises the New York production with a new cast that includes A-listers Jay Whitaker (in a welcome return to the Chicago stage) and John Judd. Their resonant performances, coupled with Falls' understated direction and McPherson's fluently crafted play, make "Shining City" a must-see show.
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Set in an overcast, decidedly less than shiny Dublin, which looms in the background, the action unfolds in an office occupied by ex-priest turned therapist Ian (a tightly wound, emotionally frayed Whittaker), a conflicted soul as much in need of comfort as his clients. The play opens with the first session between Ian -- recently separated from Neasa (Nicole Wiesner), mother of his infant daughter -- and middle-aged John (an emotional, explosive Judd), who recently lost his wife in a horrific car accident and claims he's being haunted by her ghost.
As the play progresses, it become apparent these men share much more than space. These unsettled men mirror each other. They're lonely, estranged and haunted by the past. They're guilty and doubting. Both need a confessor or at least compassion, and both have trouble expressing themselves. Whittaker and Judd render McPerson's halting dialogue flawlessly and are just as impressive when they shift into story-telling mode, which is vintage McPherson: vivid and enthralling.
A more intimate setting might have suited "Shining City" better. But I can't imagine another theater doing it as well.
"Shining City," 3 stars out of four, through Feb.17 at Goodman Theatre, 170 N.DearbornSt., Chicago. $30-$70. (312) 443-3800 or www.goodmantheatre.org.
'How I Spent My Last Night on Earth'
"If high school is potty training for life, college is the toilet," says Allegra Hanover, the over-achieving, high school valedictorian and Honor Society president who narrates Griffin Theatre's "How I Spent My Last Night on Earth."
"College is where you want to go, and it makes your parents happy."
Griffin Theatre regularly includes in its season shows for tweens and teens too old for children's theater and too young for adult drama. The company typically does a good job, and "Last Night" -- adapted by William Massolia from Todd Strasser's novel about California teens contemplating life in the wake of an Internet-fueled rumor about a giant asteroid hurtling toward earth -- is no exception.
Done in the style of a John Hughes movie, it's an appealing romance/coming-of-age tale centered around the hyper-articulate Allegra (the charming Cyd Blakewell). The rumored apocalypse prompts Allegra to shake off conformity, break free from her rigidly ordered life and just "be" before it's too late. Unfortunately, the person she'd like to "be" with is Andros (Edward Paul), an enigmatic surfer-philosopher she barely knows and who barely acknowledges her.
Also caught up in the asteroid's orbit is Derman (a funny Brian Deneen, who comes across as a younger version of David Hyde Pierce's Niles Crane), Allegra's endearingly dorky platonic boyfriend; best friend Angie (Sarah Pitard); artsy agitator Alice (Lynette Morris); Dave (Douglas Thornton) and Chase (Kyle Cobb), sex-obsessed pals eager for some action before the world ends.
At 90 minutes, the play could use some trimming and Strasser's "Dover Beach" riff near the end feels contrived. But Richard Barletta's affectionate direction and likable cast make up for it.
"How I SpentMy Last Nighton Earth,"xxÃ#130;circ;uml; , through Feb.17 at the Storefront Theatre, 66E. Randolph St., Chicago. $15-$22. (312) 742-8497 orwww.griffintheatre.com
'Miss Julie'
The Hypocrites aggressive, arresting revival of "Miss Julie" opens with a musical riff paraphrasing August Strindberg's call for a new type of naturalist theater: unsentimental and unflinchingly real.
"This is not a revolution, just a little change," sings the trio. "Let's do something new."
In Sean Graney, a determinedly innovative director, Strindberg has an ideal interpreter for his ground-breaking but problematic tragedy whose reputation as a harbinger of a new style outweighs its dramatic power.
It centers on the class and gender war between the privileged, troubled Miss Julie (a nicely contradictory Stacy Stoltz as the failed rebel), and her father's valet Jean (Gregory Hardigan, more sympathetic than sadistic) who loathes the upper class yet longs to be part of it. "Miss Julie" plays out in the shifting power balance between the unlikely lovers who flirt, seduce, humiliate, confess and reject each other over the course of a midsummer night, during which they're occasionally joined by Samantha Gleisten's cook, Kristin, who embraces her lower-class status.
The actors nicely shaded performances hint at something simmering below the surface. When it erupts -- as in the dramatic scene midway through the play where Graney strips his characters and leaves them mired in the wreckage of their lives -- it results in one of the most satisfying moments in the production.
Like last year's "Mud," "Miss Julie" is staged promenade style, meaning the audience walks around Marcus Stephens' set. A giant crate that opens to reveal the various places on Miss Julie's family estate where her and Jean's ill-fated affair unfolds, the set is an inspired representation of how class and gender box in these characters.
"Miss Julie," 3 stars out of four, throughMarch 2 at Chopin Theatre,1543W.Division St., Chicago.$20. (773) 472-7352 orwww.the-hypocrites.com